And Hofstadter talks of poetry translation, surely a task with some of the most demanding constraints, requiring preserving meaning certainly, and one would hope, the rythym, rhyme, and feeling of the original work. The main thesis here seems to be "Try Harder", (a good motto to remember when creating E2 nodes, and one I should certainly try to remember), and several truly amazing examples are given. The idea that constraints (or boundaries) can have a positive influence on creativity is demonstrated in spades in this book.

In a way though, every piece of art suffers from constraint in that it can not portray life in its every detail, no matter how realistic. Perhaps the stylized nature of art is what gives it power. But as anyone who's ever looked at a complex painting and started to design an entire world around the details inside knows, there is indeed creativity hidden in the boundaries.